In the first of a two-part series, Labor insiders weigh up the competing stresses on the government in what was meant to be its central year to deliver change
-
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The night before Jim Chalmers addressed business economists in Melbourne to warn of the severe budget damage a prolonged war in the Middle East could cause, he fronted a very different crowd in Brisbane.
The host of the 18 March event was the Australian Workers Heritage Centre, whose home in the central-west Queensland town of Barcaldine is considered the birthplace of the Labor party.